


maybe the blood won't flow so gladly

by purrlock_catson



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Poem-style, Steve-centric, short and sweet, slightly angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 19:50:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1911615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purrlock_catson/pseuds/purrlock_catson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is not the twentieth century. Steve learns that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	maybe the blood won't flow so gladly

               This is not the twentieth century.

               The food is fried, the rooms are warmer, and there’s Google.

               But there is no Bucky.

               Steve can’t help but miss home.

               (where was home? home was where Bucky was.)

* * *

                This is not the twentieth century.

                He wakes up seventy years later after he crashed into the ice.

                Sometimes he coaxes himself to sleep but has vivid dreams of the frigid air, the fear in Peggy’s voice, his vision is blurry, and it’s going so fast. Faster and faster and faster until the frigid air becomes the frigid cold and surrounds him with darkness.

                For a short moment, after he’s promised a date with Peggy, he finally comes to the realization that he is going to die.

                Then he wakes up, takes a shower, the warm water cleans his skin from the sticky sweat and forces the cold out of him.

                Lather, rinse, and repeat.

                (and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat.)

* * *

                This is not the twentieth century.

                The technology is mind boggling; the brilliance of Tony Stark is something he can’t believe.

                But then Stark opens his mouth and lays verbal blows to wherever he can.

                Steve can’t help but feel that he is no different to the bullies on the Brooklyn streets, rude and afraid of anyone who will them so.

                (without Bucky to help him.)

* * *

                This is not the twentieth century.

                He is dealing with some serious issues.

                Like a psychopathic _god_ is on a homicidal rampage and opens up a portal for _aliens_.

                (he really wishes Bucky could see this.)

* * *

                This is not the twentieth century

                He fights and fights for a world and era he was never meant to live in.

                But he’s okay with that.

                He’s okay with the constant empty feeling of knowing that all those people, the people he bonded with in battle, are dead, dying, or delusional. He’s okay with it because he can’t afford not to be.

                (but maybe another battle and another brotherhood.)

* * *

               This is the twenty-first century.

                He has Banner, Natasha, Clint, Thor, and to a point Stark; they are his friends.

                He has a life now with them, with S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s the best he can get.

                But he still feels the cold.

                (and he’s still afraid of falling asleep.)

* * *

                This is the twenty-first century.

                Sam Wilson makes him breakfast and Steve is always on his left.

                Nick Fury isn’t dead and neither is Bucky.

                The Winter Soldier, despite his name doesn’t bring the cold to Steve.

                (Bucky? Who the hell is Bucky?)

* * *

                This is the twenty-first century.

                This is home.

                (and he realizes now that this is what he’s been fighting for.)


End file.
